


A Good, Courageous Man

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Gen, being supportive of strangers who get hit by cars, but this is not a fix-it, pockets that are bigger on the inside, this is going to sound crazy coming from me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 12:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20866514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: How did Rose know so much about Donna when they met for the second time in Turn Left? Why it's because Wilf talks all about his granddaughter with his new friend whose name he doesn't even know.





	A Good, Courageous Man

Wilf was usually happy enough to let Donna prattle on about her life to him, even though nothing particularly interesting happened for her to talk about. But today was different. Donna had been unusually quiet when she’d walked inside, still wearing her wedding dress. “We’re going to have a guest for dinner,” she said softly. Then she glanced out the window behind her and shook her head. “Oh, nevermind.”

She went to her room, not even storming off or stomping or making a fuss, which is why Wilf was quite worried. He glanced at his daughter and she just shrugged, not seeming too concerned. That was typical of Sylvia, though. Her and Donna had always had a strained relationship, though Wilf could never quite figure out whether it was because they were too different, or too similar. 

Since it was apparent that Sylvia wasn’t going to do anything, Wilf made his way up to Donna’s room. He knocked lightly on the door and it swung open, the latch not having caught properly. The dress was in a puffy heap on the floor, and Donna had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a ratty old tee shirt. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall, though it seemed as though her thoughts were actually much further away.

Wilf knocked on the open door to get Donna’s attention, and she slowly looked up at him, revealing red eyes and makeup trails across her face. “What happened?”

And then she was suddenly going on about her day, about aliens that had tried to kill her, and how her fiance was dead and also had never actually cared about her, and about an alien in a blue box who was quite pathetic and clearly underfed, and about how she was determined to change her life, but she just wanted to spend the rest of the day grieving.

Wilf sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. Maybe a few years ago it would have been hard to believe any of that, but these days, it seemed impossible to get through a single Christmas without those damn aliens getting involved. But Wilf knew that right now, the aliens were the least important part of the story. Donna had been betrayed and had her heart broken, and he wished that he could just fix all the hurt, because he just wanted his granddaughter to be happy. But for now, all he could do was hold her, and wait with her for however long it would take for the pain to fade.

,,,

Sylvia was at work, and Donna was too (though she’d confided in Wilf that she was actually searching for the Doctor) when there was a loud crashing noise from outside, followed by someone screaming. Wilf hurried outside to see what was going on. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was those aliens again. 

There was a car stopped in the middle of the road, and from where he was standing, Wilf could just make out the sight of blonde hair on the pavement in front of the vehicle. The driver was quickly getting out of the car, and looked around wildly at the other neighbors who’d come out to investigate the noise. “She just appeared out of nowhere, I swear!” 

Someone called for an ambulance, and then the neighbors all focused on the driver. They clearly thought that the man was drunk or crazy from the way he insisted the victim had just appeared there. But Wilf remembered a couple of Christmases back, when a man and woman had disappeared from right in front of him, and he knew that aliens could do pretty much anything. 

Nobody seemed to be paying much attention to the woman who’d been hit, so Wilf made his way over to her. If she was hurt badly enough to die in the middle of the road, she didn’t deserve to be alone there. And if she did live to make it to the hospital, she didn’t deserve to be alone there either.

He knelt down next to the fallen woman, trying not to wince as the way his knees cracked and popped with the movement, and then he leaned closer to her. “Are you awake?” There was no response, and Wilf decided that he could wait to ask her if she was an alien. She didn’t look like an alien, though Donna had told him about the Doctor often enough for him to know that sometimes they did look like people.

After a moment of hesitation, Wilf reached out to take the girl’s hand. He held it very gently, not wanting to hurt the poor woman further. He just hoped that it would help her know that she wasn’t alone. The girl looked like she was half Donna’s age, and Wilf couldn’t imagine what he’d do if Donna were ever hurt somewhere, and just left alone. 

When the ambulance arrived, Wilf claimed to be the girl’s grandfather so that he could go with her to the hospital. From the rapid pace she was being worked on at, it seemed as though she’d been pretty badly injured. Wilf did his best to just stay out of the way, and cleverly avoided the nurse who tried to flag him down to get information about his ‘granddaughter’.

It was hours later before the girl was finally out of surgery, and moved to a regular room. Wilf decided that he would stay until the girl woke up, because then she’d be able to call her family and get their company, but at least she wouldn’t have to actually wake up alone. 

Wilf didn’t intend on dozing off in the visitor chair, but he must have, because he was startled awake by the sound of a raspy cough. “Where ‘m I?”

“You’re in the hospital on Paddy Street. Er, how are you feeling?” Before the girl could answer, there was a loud dinging sound coming from somewhere in Wilf’s jacket, and then he remembered that phone that Sylvia had given him for his birthday last year. He pulled it out and saw Donna’s name on the small display, so he flipped it open and held it to his ear. “Yes?”

Donna was disappointed by the lack of the Doctor’s presence, but was sure that she was onto something with the Adipose company, and she wanted to ‘bounce some ideas off of’ him, so where the hell was he? Wilf promised that he’d be home soon and then hung up, wondering if he’d be better off ‘losing’ the phone somewhere. He looked back at the patient when he realized she was laughing. “She sounds lovely, mate. You should probably go before you have a whole search party sent after you.”

That’s what Wilf had been thinking too, but he did still have a question for the girl. “Are you one of them aliens?”

There was a moment of silence, and then she laughed even harder, until she winced from the movement and settled down. “I’m just an ordinary human, I promise.”

It wasn’t until later that night, after Wilf had listened to Donna talk about her day and then both of them had headed off to bed, that he realized he’d never asked the girl her name. Not that it really mattered because he couldn’t imagine that he’d ever see her again, but… he thought of how small she had looked in that hospital bed. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to check in on her, just to make sure that someone had been able to come and keep her company?

,,,

The girl was still alone when Wilf returned to the hospital, and he felt certain that visiting her again was the right decision. She was sitting upright, though propped up by several pillows, and there was a dark bruise peeking out from beneath one of the sleeves of her gown, and she had something on her lap that she was looking at intently. 

When Wilf cleared his throat, she quickly shoved something beneath her blanket, and then looked up at him. “Ah, hi again. Still worried I’m an alien?”

Wilf shook his head. “I never got your name. I’m Wilfred Mott.”

She bit her lip, and then gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you my name. It could cause all kinds of problems. But, uh, thank you for worrying about me. I know that my mum would certainly appreciate it if she knew. So, Wilfred Mott. Tell me what kind of guy cares about some chav he doesn’t even know?”

Wilf sank down onto the visitor’s chair. “Oh, not much to tell about me. I’m an ordinary human, just like you.” But he didn’t want to just sit there in awkward silence, or leave when he felt so sure that this girl needed some company. “Oh, but my granddaughter, on the other hand- there are quite a few stories that I could tell about her.”

The girl grinned. “Well go on then. You can’t just start with that and then not finish.”

Wilf laughed, and then launched into one of the many stories of Donna. The girl was a good listener, and she seemed to somehow understand his granddaughter despite having never even met her. Yeah, he’d definitely made the right decision in coming back.

,,,

The next night, Wilf found himself waving goodbye to a flying blue box that had his Donna standing in the doorway. He tried his best to stop himself from crying. He didn’t want to say goodbye to her, or live knowing that she was going to be off living a dangerous life, but he also knew that this was what was best for her, and that’s what was most important.

Wilf just needed someone to talk to, and he headed back to the hospital. The girl was still lying in bed, though this time he was able to catch a glimpse of what she was fidgeting with. It looked like some kind of strange sleeve with a screen and buttons, and she was holding a mini screwdriver that probably went against hospital policy. 

She tucked it under her blanket, and then gave Wilf a big smile. “You’re back.” Then her smile faded a bit, and Wilf knew that she must have seen the redness around his eyes. “What happened?”

And even though he knew that he would probably just sound like a crazy person, Wilf told the girl about everything Donna had told him on the phone even after her and the Doctor had been far out of sight. He laughed when he mentioned that Sylvia would be quite annoyed to have so much trouble finding the keys to her car, and then the girl’s eyes widened. “Oh… oh Wilf, you’re never going to believe this, but I was there.” Wilf looked at the hospital gown she was wearing, as well as the various tubes and needles that were connected to her body. She laughed, and shook her head. “Not today. Oh, I know how that must sound, but I was there, only it was weeks ago for me.” Then her laughter quickly died out. “That means… that means that I was so close to him. All this time I’ve been looking for the Doctor, just like Donna has, only I’ve been looking in about a million different parallel universes and I was so close to him, but I missed him.” She heaved out a sigh, and then tilted her head back to stare up at the ceiling. “I’m still not going to tell you my name, but I think you at least deserve to know my story, Wilf. It can’t be a coincidence that I landed right on your street. I don’t believe in coincidences anymore.” She took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. “So, it all started on an ordinary day, when an ordinary shop girl had to stay late…”  
,,,

She fell asleep eventually, and not long after that the nurses came in to kick Wilf out. As he made his way to the bus stop, he couldn’t stop thinking about the story he’d just been told. It had taken the girl hours to share it all, and even then he was sure that there was a lot more that she hadn’t said. 

Wilf’s own wife had died years and years ago now, but he couldn’t help thinking of her now. He was glad that nobody stopped to look at him, because if they did, they'd be able to see how misty-eyed he’d gotten. That girl had been through so much, and now was literally hopping between different universes to try and find the man- alien?- man that she loved. Eileen would have loved that girl, and would have wanted to try and help. She’d always been something of a romantic.

And of course, it didn’t occur to Wilf for even a moment that he shouldn’t believe her. He’d suspended all his disbelief in a world beyond his understanding the day that a space ship had crashed into Big Ben. Well, it had actually been much before that, if he was being entirely honest. He certainly remembered a lot of weird stuff going on in the ‘70s, though no one seemed to believe him about any of it, not until Downing Street had been blown up. 

When Wilf got home, he found himself instinctively looking for Donna, and then had to remind himself that she wasn’t home, and probably wouldn’t come back for a while. He missed her, though, so he headed up to the hill to stargaze. Would he ever see that blue box again? It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Doctor- from what the blonde girl had said, he’d saved the Earth more times than anyone could count, but she’d also said that he’d brought her home a year late. Wilf was already an old man, so how many years late could he afford the Doctor to be? 

A little while later, Sylvia made her way up the hill. She had that look on her face that meant she was about to start lecturing him, but then she just sighed and sat down next to him. He offered up a corner of his blanket so that they could huddle beneath it together. “You shouldn’t come out here alone, Dad. What if something happens?”

“Oh, nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m made of tough stuff.” Even without looking, he could practically feel the way Sylvia rolled her eyes at him. “So how was your day?”

She shrugged. “Oh, same as always. Bumped into an old coworker of Donna’s, had to explain that she’s off traveling. Though I do wish she would have at least told me where she was going so that I’d have something more interesting to say when people ask about her.”

Wilf laughed as he thought about just how interesting Donna’s travels must be. “Who cares what they think?”

He knew that Sylvia probably rolled her eyes at that. Honestly, he would never understood how his daughter had grown up to be the person that she was. God knew that he loved her, but she wasn’t anything like Wilf or Eileen. He was just glad that Donna hadn’t gone full Sylvia, though at times it was pretty close. But he understood that a lot of Donna’s attitude came from her being so unhappy with her life. Hopefully now that she had the Doctor, she would be able to just be herself. Then Wilf grinned as he realized that he could see the happy ending of this story already. The next time that Donna came home, Wilf would just tell the Doctor where to find his former companion, and then they’d all reunite and travel together and be happy.

,,,

“You know, I think I still need something to call you.”

The girl laughed. “How about Bad Wolf?”

Wilf shook his head. “‘S not exactly a name.”

She thought about it for a moment. “Hm. Well, the Doctor usually goes by John Smith when he’s undercover, so I suppose I’d be Jane.”

Wilf gave her a long look, then nodded. “You don’t look like a Jane, mind, but it’ll do for now. And once you’re back with your Doctor, I expect to hear your real name.”

Jane nodded as well. “I promise.”

,,,

Jane was finally released from the hospital, and Wilf offered to let her stay in Donna’s room while they waited for the travelers to return. She looked awkward about it, but then finally agreed, and gave him a little kiss on the cheek as thanks. Sylvia wasn’t too happy about the situation, since she seemed to assume all kinds of things about why Wilf would let a pretty young woman stay with them, but in the end, Jane managed to win over Wilf’s prickly daughter. 

A couple of weeks passed, and after Wilf caught his thousandth glimpse of what Jane was constantly fidgeting with, she finally showed it to him. “It’s a dimension cannon. It’s how I made all those leaps through different universes. Broke when I got hit by that car, though.”

She held it out so Wilf took it and slowly turned it over in his hands. “Why do you need it, though? You’ve already found the right universe.”

Jane shrugged, and then looked down at the floor. “This is probably going to sound stupid, but it’s just that the Doctor is this brilliant guy who is hundreds of years old, and I have no idea how long it’s been for him since Canary Wharf. He’s obviously moved on already, which is great, because he doesn’t deserve to be alone, but it means that he’s probably already forgotten about me, and if I can’t prove that I can keep up with him, then-” her voice cracked, and she didn’t try to finish her sentence.

Wilf sat down in the chair next to her, and set the dimension cannon down on the table. “He’d be an absolute fool to not take you back. And I don’t know how anyone could forget about you, you’re brilliant. I could never build a dimension whatsit.”

Jane smiled, and reached up to rub at her eyes. “Yeah. Thanks. Still going to try and finish it, though. Never know when it might come in handy.” Then she shocked Wilf by pulling him into a hug, even though she’d never struck him as a very tactile person. “You’re brilliant too, you know. Not many people would just take in a stranger without even knowing her name.”

Wilf returned the hug for a moment before pulling away. “It must have been destiny. Besides, I will know your name soon enough. Once you’re back with the Doctor, remember?”

Jane grinned and nodded. “Though with his driving skills, that might not be for another couple of decades.”

Wilf laughed, and then invited Jane to go look at the stars with him. He missed being able to teach the constellations to Donna, and even though he got the feeling that Jane probably knew more about the stars than he did, he also knew that she’d be perfectly happy to listen to him anyways.

,,,

Wilf wasn’t even with her when it happened. He was sitting downstairs, trying to fill out a crossword puzzle that had been in the back of the paper, when he heard a loud shout coming from Donna/Jane’s room. “Aha! I did it! I finally- oh shi-” Then there was a loud crash.

Even though he was getting old, Wilf was able to make it up the stairs in record time, and he shoved his way into the bedroom without knocking. There was no sign of Jane anywhere, and the desk chair had been knocked over to the floor. Her tiny screwdriver was still resting innocently on the desk, and the clothes that Jane had bought from a local secondhand shop were still in the drawers that had been left empty when Donna packed her bags to leave. 

The best Wilf could figure out on his own was that Jane had finished working on her dimension cannon, but that it had somehow activated on its own or something, dragging her away. He could feel his eyes start to water as he hoped that she landed somewhere safe. He knew that it felt like he’d just lost another granddaughter, even if he had only known her for a few months, and never even learned her name. He sank down onto the bed, and spotted Jane’s leather jacket. She definitely wouldn’t have left that behind if she’d had a choice. 

Wilf closed his eyes, and tilted his head back so that he was facing the ceiling, and then he forced himself to look up at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers that he’d given Jane permission to plaster all over. 

,,,

It was only two days after Jane’s disappearance that Donna and the Doctor came to visit, and Wilf decided not to mention Jane. It had hurt her to know she’d just barely missed the Doctor on the night Donna had left, so he assumed that it would hurt the Doctor to know the same. What a cruel universe they lived in, for those two to be constantly forced apart.

,,,

The Earth was stolen while the Doctor and Donna were away, and Wilf could only hope that they would figure out what to do. He grabbed a paintball gun and ignored Sylvia’s protests as he took to the streets, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. 

He certainly wasn’t expecting to be saved by a familiar girl (though the gun that seemed to be as big as her was a new addition). He grinned. “Jane!”

She blinked a couple of times, and then her eyes widened. “Wilf? What are the odds…?” Then she let go of the gun so that it slid around to hang from her back, and she rushed forward to pull Wilf into a hug. “Oh, it’s good to see you again.” She glanced over at Sylvia, who still seemed to be stunned by the entire situation. “And you as well, of course.” She glanced up and down the street before looking back at Wilf. “Come on, we’ve gotta get out of sight. Daleks are not something to be messed with.”

They went back to the house, and barricaded the doors and closed all the windows and curtains. “I have something for you,” Wilf suddenly remembered. He went to the front closet to dig through the jackets that were all piled in there. Almost all of Jane’s old clothes had been gifted to charity once a couple of weeks had passed and it became clear that she wasn’t coming back. There was one exception, though. Wilf found what he was looking for, and then triumphantly held it out to Jane. “Thought you might want this.” 

Jane looked like she was about to cry as she quickly pulled off her gun and dropped it to the floor so that she could take her jacket and put it on. “Oh, I thought I’d never see this again. Thank you, Wilf. You really are absolutely brilliant.” After a conference call that Jane was left out of (and she was a bit annoyed that he’d never bought a better computer even after she’d complained about the old one often enough), she said that she needed to go and find the others. She did pause to give Wilf another brief hug, though. “Oh, you’ll be learning my real name soon enough. I haven’t forgotten about that.” Then she hurried off, and Wilf felt confident that the fate of his planet was in good hands.

,,,

It seemed as though everything had been fixed and gone back to normal, when there was a frantic sounding knock at the door. Wilf hurried to answer it, and found the Doctor crouched on the ground over an unconscious Donna.

Wilf couldn’t hold back his tears as the Doctor explained what had happened. He wanted to beg for Donna’s memories to be restored, because she truly had become better by being with the Doctor, but he didn’t want her to die, and he could also see that the situation was hard on the Doctor as well.

It was until after Sylvia had none too subtly kicked the Doctor out that Wilf realized he’d forgotten to ask about Jane. He had no idea what had happened to her, and he wondered how it was possible for him to survive when he had so much worry and heartbreak in him. 

,,,

When the Doctor showed up to Donna’s wedding, Wilf just knew that he was going to cry. The Doctor held out a small envelope and explained that it was a wedding present for Donna. Then he hesitated before holding out a different letter. “This is for you.”

Wilf could see his name written across the front in neat little block letters, and took it even as he asked, “What’s this?”

The Doctor shrugged. “If I’m being perfectly honest, I’ve got absolutely no idea. And that’s pretty rare for me. I was tempted to read it myself, but it is illegal to read other people’s mail. I have no idea where it came from, or how long it’s been in my pocket for. They’re bigger on the inside, so things tend to get buried.” The Doctor slowly breathed out, and reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. “I suppose this is goodbye.” Then there was immediately a sour look on his face. “Oh, I hate goodbyes.” He turned to head back to the TARDIS without another word, and Wilf couldn’t have stopped himself from crying for anything in the world. The universe was going to lose a wonderful man, and most people would never even know it.

Wilf waited until the reception was over (just in case Donna disappeared from this one too), and he and Sylvia had gone home. Donna and her new husband had already left for the airport, eager to begin their honeymoon. At home, Wilf trudged up the stairs, and walked past Donna’s room. It looked so empty without any of her things in it, but she’d already moved everything to the flat she and Shaun would be sharing from now on. 

He sank down onto his bed, feeling more tired than he had in a very long time, and then he finally pulled out the mysterious envelope the Doctor had given him. He opened it carefully, though he was pretty sure that the Doctor would have figured it out if it were anything dangerous. All that was inside was a folded up letter, and Wilf pulled it out.

‘_To Wilfred Mott, an absolutely fantastic man-_

_I know that the Doctor is planning on doing something incredibly stupid. It’s probably written into his DNA at this point. But I can practically read his mind with how obvious he’s being. There’s two of him right now, which probably makes absolutely no sense to you, but he’s currently arguing with himself in a way that most people never could. It's all my fault that there's two, but I don't think I have enough time to get in to all that._

_I’m afraid that he’s going to abandon me, Wilf. I don’t know who else I could explain that to. I tried to talk to Donna, because I feel like I already know her so well from all of your stories, but she’s been… changed. She stands with the Doctors now. Mickey already left with Martha and Jack (I’m sure I’ve told you about Mickey and Jack before, right?), and my mum has never understood anything to do with the Doctor. _

_None of them have said anything to me yet, but I’m not as stupid as I used to be. So I’m using this time to write to you, since you are probably the only one who will really understand any of it. And also because, even if I never see you again, I did make a promise. I found the Doctor again, so it’s safe to tell you who I am. _

_My name is Rose Marion Tyler. I was born 27th April 1987 to Pete and Jackie Tyler, and I lived a life with nothing in it, until the day that I met the Doctor. He took me on grand adventures across the universe, and I love him more than anything. You’ve been a true friend to me, so you deserve to know that. I hope you live an absolutely fantastic life, Wilfred Mott. And never stop looking to the skies._

_Yours for as long as I’ve got left here,_

_Rose Tyler_’

,,,

Wilf found Rose’s name on the list of those who had died in the Battle of Canary Wharf, along with her mother’s. He knew that they hadn’t died, but instead fell into a parallel universe, but he didn’t know how else to say goodbye, so he went to the empty graves of the Tyler women. He knelt down in front of a shiny stone that read ‘Rose Tyler, 1987-2007, Beloved daughter and friend’. And below that, in fancy script that didn’t match the other words, ‘Defender of the Earth’. 

Wilf reached out to press his hand against the stone, as if that would somehow allow Rose to hear him. “Thank you for coming into my life when you did. And- and goodbye.”

,,,

An impossible distance away, Rose Tyler knelt in a graveyard and placed her hand on a stone that read ‘Wilfred Mott, 1928-1996, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great-Grandfather, may he rest in peace as he watches over us’. “Thank you,” she whispered. “for always being such a good, courageous man.”

**Author's Note:**

> I decided that Wilf died sooner in the parallel universe, no particular reason.


End file.
